


Fever

by Amy Cherryclaw (ameliette)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, No Romance, Sickfic, Western Air Temple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-27 03:45:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameliette/pseuds/Amy%20Cherryclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which nothing goes according to anyone's plan because Zuko was an incompetent firebender right after the eclipse and gets Katara's symphaties first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fever

**Author's Note:**

> Other warnings: mild swearing, not beta-ed (but has been proofread at least 5 times!)  
> Beginning sounds a bit weird compared to the rest because my plotbunny changed tracks midway and I did not fancy writing another beginning.  
> One-shot, please don't ask me to continue this.

“Um, guys... This might be just me, but _is that Zuko_?” Sokka asked, leaning over the saddle in Appa's back, looking down to the forest below.

“What?!” Aang and Katara exclaimed and turned to look themselves. Aang kept Appa flying in small circles around the area.

“Just asking, but what's he doing?” Toph asked, as she obviously couldn't see it herself.

“Dunno. Collecting wood.” Sokka said. “Maybe he got banished again?”

Katara shook her head. “I don't think that would make sense. Under Ba Sing Se, he seemed different. Well, at least until he saw Aang.” She sighed. “Then he went and joined Azula.”

Surprisingly, it was Aang who spoke next. “We don't know everything that happened.” It sounded like he was _defending_ the prince. “Huh?” he suddenly said, concentrating on looking down to the forest. The fire prince looked like he had collapsed. “What happened to him?” Aang asked, hoping that someone had been looking down.

“Maybe he stumbled?” Sokka guessed.

“No, I think he blacked out.” Katara said with a slight worry in her voice. “Maybe we should-”

“NO!” shouted everyone else, silencing her.

 

Night was falling and prince Zuko restlessly walked around his tiny camp. Every now and then he shot a flame to the fire in front of his tent to keep it burning. He was overly tired but knew he couldn't go to sleep. He didn't want to see the dragons.

Finally, after hours of restless stomping, he curled up in his tent, pulled a blanket around himself and closed his eyes, terrified of the inevitable dream.

 _The dream was all too familiar to him. The whispering dragons, the overwhelming feelings of fear, loss and grief, the image of his own_ mother...

He jolted up from his sleep, tired as ever. The dragons wouldn't leave him alone. Ever since Ba Sing Se his nights had been like this. He had thought that leaving his father would have eased them, but no – it only made them worse.

The fire outside had burned out long ago, leaving the forest in darkness; the dawn was still hours away. Zuko sighed and wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, trying to get at least some rest before continuing his way to the Western Air Temple, in the hopes of finding the Avatar.

 

“We're here.” Toph happily said and stopped.

“I see nothing but a big, deep canyon.” Sokka said. “And it's covered in mist.”

“Toph's right.” Aang said. “Everyone, get on Appa's back, we have one more flight to do.”

 

“Great. I'm here, but I have no idea where he is, or whether he's going to be here at all.” Zuko snorted as he walked through the upside-down temple. The architecture still bemused him; who _could_ come up with the idea of a temple hanging under a cliff?

Suddenly he heard loud rumbling above him and he turned around to see the unmistakable silhouette of the Avatar's flying bison against the clouds. _Looks like he's making this easy after all_ , Zuko thought before realizing he was like a sitting turtle-duck here in the open. He rushed behind the corner of one building and stayed to hear what was going on. He was surprised to see other people with the four, especially as he couldn't recognize any of them.

Listening to the group proved fruitless until Katara, the waterbender girl, mentioned that Aang had no firebending teacher. This could be his chance to join them!

But then again... they hated him. And with a reason: he had captured the Avatar on North Pole, turned against them in Ba Sing Se... There was no way they were going to trust him now. He sighed and slowly returned to his camp nearby the cliff.

 

Sometime later, Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka were done exploring the temple, and now they were spending time at the fountain. The others were still in the temple, exploring everything.

“Aang, we really need to find you a firebending master.” Katara said.

“But who? All of the benders are right now our enemies.” Aang complained.

“Stop whining.” Toph said. “ I think our solution is arriving.” she added, pointing at Appa.

The flying bison turned around and let out a happy noise, following the person with his gaze.

“ _You?_ ” Katara, Sokka and Aang exclaimed, staring at the scar-faced young firebender before them.

Zuko sighed. “Hi. I heard you need a firebending master for him.” he said and waved at Aang's direction. He didn't even look surprised when everyone prepared to attack him.

“How can we know you're not trying to lead Azula here?” Katara said, bringing one stream of water closer to Zuko.

“I left them.” he said, not expecting anyone to accept that answer. “Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I _know_ there's really no way for me to pay back all that, but...” Zuko trailed off. Appa walked closer to him and licked him, making his clothes drip. Zuko wiped the goo away from his face. “At least your bison seems to like me.” he said and patted Appa.

“He likes anyone.” Aang said. “Tell us one good thing you've done!”

“I saved you from Zhao's prison.” Zuko replied without hesitation. “Katara, you saw they threw me to that cave in Ba Sing Se. That was Azula's doings.”

“And still you went and joined her.” Katara said. “No deal.” she added and blasted Zuko with a big stream of water, and he landed almost on the edge of the temple. He slowly got up and turned away.

“I can see I'm not welcomed here.” he said and walked away.

When he was out of hearing range, Toph said, “He wasn't lying, guys.”

Everyone stared at her in shock. “Why didn't you say anything?” Sokka said.

“I'm not sure if he's telling the whole truth. All I know is that he didn't tell a single lie.”

“So he did rescue you from Zhao's prison?” Katara asked from Aang.

“Long story.” he replied. “It happened when you two were ill. But yes, he did.”

 

After the sun had set, Toph sneaked out of the temple and went after Zuko. It was quite hard for her to find his camp, but when she found it, she was surprised. The prince was sleeping really restlessly, whimpering and moaning in his sleep. _Poor guy, he must be having a nightmare_ , Toph thought and sneaked closer to his tent.

She could feel from a distance that something was really wrong. The prince didn't show any signs of waking up as Toph closed to him, only ever slightly stirring when Toph dared to touch him. She snapped her hand away instantly; the boy was burning. _I need to get Katara here_ , Toph said and sneaked out of the tent.

She almost made it out without waking Zuko up, but she unfortunately stepped on a twig right beside a big rock.

“Huh, who's there?!” Zuko said groggily, his voice too quiet. Toph didn't respond, as she didn't want to be seen. Zuko repeated his question and burst a small flame towards the rock Toph was hiding behind. She jumped to the rock to avoid the flames, but was tad too late: her one foot got slightly burned and she yelped in agony.

“You burned me!” Toph said. This fully awoke Zuko and he pounded up.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you!” he exclaimed and walked towards Toph. She didn't take it too good and she started crawling backwards, even though she could have walked despite the burn: in fact, she was only testing Zuko.

“Go away!” Toph yelled and pushed herself back towards the woods. She felt Zuko closing in and she slammed her hands to the ground, making a pillar of earth slam to Zuko, sending him flying. He hit the ground hard and gasped in pain as he got up.

“I'm sorry!” Zuko yelled as Toph got behind the nearest bushes and hid there.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have hit him that hard..._ she thought as she heard Zuko groan in pain as he walked back to his tent. “Why am I so bad at being good?!” he groaned and collapsed to his back before getting up again and curling up under his blanket.

 

“Katara!” Toph yelled as she arrived to the temple. “You need to come with me!”

“What? What's going on?” Katara replied and rubbed her eyes: Toph had woken her up from a quite pleasant dream.

“I went to Zuko's camp. He's ill.” Toph said.

“You went there? At this hour? How can you be so irresponsible?” Katara asked.

“I wanted to know how he was doing. He seemed ill even during the day.” Toph said. Only now did Katara notice she was favoring her one leg.

“Are you hurt? You're limping.” she asked, making Toph squirm.

“I... stumbled and my leg hit the fire when I was leaving his camp. It's nothing serious.” she said, but even Katara could tell she was lying.

“Let me heal that leg first. That'll turn out ugly if you keep running with it.” Katara said and guided Toph to sit on the edge of the fountain.

“Only if you'll heal Zuko. He's really, _really_ ill.” Toph said, but let Katara heal her foot anyway.

“There.” Katara said after Toph's foot looked better. “Now, can you tell me what really happened and in what condition is he?”

“Is it okay if I tell on the way there?” Toph said. “I'm not sure he can survive much longer alone.”

“Well... Okay.” Katara said and fetched her water skin. “Lead the way.” she said.

 

“You know... I was lying before. I didn't burn my foot on accident. Well, half, but...” Toph floundered.

“I know.” Katara said.

“I mean, I didn't want you to start hating him again. And it was my fault.” Toph continued.

“I'd hate him anyway.”

“You see, I stepped on a twig and woke him up. He sort of freaked out and shot a small flame towards me. I almost avoided it.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So I exaggerated a bit. He said he was sorry and all, but then I overreacted myself and slammed him with earthbending. I... I think I injured him.”

“I think he deserved that in the first place.” Katara said. “So, how was he before you woke him up?”

“He has fever. And he was having a nightmare. I think it's something serious.”

“It might be.” Katara replied. They slowed their pace as they got closer to the camp, trying not to wake Zuko up. When they got there, the fire in front of the tent had died, only glowing embers left. Zuko was visibly shivering in his tent and Katara quickly approached him.

“Is that you again?” he asked hoarsely.

“Yup.” Toph said. “And I got Katara here.”

Zuko squirmed under his blanket. “Why? I don't need healing. You didn't even hit me hard.” he said and started to cough, wincing a couple of times.

“At least come to sleep at the temple. It's better down there than here in the woods.” Katara said. She was really starting to feel some compassion to the young prince: at night he was more fragile than dangerous.

“Fine, if you so insist.” Zuko said, got up and tugged his blanket to his bag, taking it with him. He started breathing heavily as he staggered to his feet. Just as he looked like he was going to pass out, Katara rushed to his side and pulled his one arm around her shoulders.

“Here. I might as well help you there.” she said. Zuko merely grunted in response. He clearly wasn't happy, but he couldn't protest in his half-conscious state.

On their way back to the cliff, Katara realized they wouldn't get Zuko down to the temple without Appa. Apparently, Toph had realized the same, because she led Katara a bit further from the cliff and started earthbending a tunnel back to the camp.

“Are you sure that won't make the temple unstable?” Katara asked.

“Absolutely. I see with my feet, remember? I can tell where the earth is solid and where not.” Toph said and led Katara down the tunnel straight to the camp.

“I think he'd better sleep inside.” Toph whispered.

“Wisely thought.” Katara admitted and carried Zuko to one of the rooms inside the temple. She laid him down to the bed, making him groan. “Sorry.” she whispered.

The prince was now unconscious, and Katara reached her hand to check his temperature. She didn't even need to touch his forehead to feel the heat radiating from him, as his skin was unbearably hot.

“Toph?” Katara whispered. “Are you still there?”

“Never even left.” came the answer from the corridor.

“Good. Could you fetch me some fresh water? I need to get his fever down.”

“I'm on it.” Toph answered. She soon returned with two buckets full with water and placed them beside Zuko's bed. “There. If you don't need me right now, I'd go to bed.”

“Go ahead. I can handle him alone.” Katara said. She placed a wet cloth on Zuko's forehead and sat in the corner, waiting for him to regain consciousness.

 

“Where's Katara?” Sokka asked, still half-asleep. Usually by this time Katara was already making everyone breakfast.

“Inside.” Toph said, pointed to the temple and turned his back to Sokka. He got up and went after his sister, ignoring Toph's call. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what the blind girl had to say.

Sokka wasn't really surprised to find his sister sleeping in one of the rooms inside the temple. They were more protected from weather than the open platform, but the air was a bit staler so they preferred sleeping outside.

No, that wasn't the problem. Instead, he was shocked to find Zuko in the same room.

“Katara. Katara, wake up!” Sokka said and shook his sister's shoulder. She blinked a few times before recognizing Sokka.

“Um, I can explain.” she said as she noticed Sokka's wary looks at Zuko.

 

“Toph found him.” Katara said to Sokka and Aang. They were sitting at the fountain, retelling what had happened the previous night. The boys weren't buying it that easy.

“He was ill so we couldn't just leave him there.” Toph added, anxiously toying with pebbles.

“And you had to bring him here?” Sokka asked, trying to be the voice of reason.

“He's not going to harm us in that state. Besides, he _did not lie_ yesterday.” Toph continued, almost waving her arms in frustration. Her bending-vision was still a bit off, but she could tell the boys didn't trust the Fire Nation prince.

“You heard Toph. Zuko stays.” Katara finished and stormed back in.

“Aang, you need someone to teach you firebending, and Zuko would be perfect for that. There's no way around that.” Toph said after a brief silence. “I know, it doesn't make this any easier.”

“What's wrong with him, anyways?” Sokka asked, now calmed down.

“I'm not sure. He had really high fever when I found him, and he seemed delirious when conscious.” Toph said and sighed. “I'm going to check how he's doing.”

 

Zuko wearily opened his eyes and looked around the room he was in. _It's weird_ , he thought, recognizing his surroundings, _how easily people show compassion when others are down_.

“How you're feeling?” a voice suddenly asked from his right. Zuko turned his head to see Katara sitting across the room, knees drawn to her chest.

“Not that bad.” Zuko said, his voice hoarse as a whisper. He tried to get up, but it sent the room spinning in his eyes. Katara gently pushed him down to his bed.

“Take it easy. Your fever's down but not gone.” she said and placed a damp cloth to his forehead.

“It'll be gone by noon.” Zuko assured. “I've never been sick for long. Firebending has that effect.”

“Not even as a kid?” Katara raised her eyebrow.

“It doesn't count.” Zuko dismissed the matter. “Our inner fire burns the sickness out – usually before the fever even breaks.” He sighed. “Though that leads to other problems.”

“Like what?” Katara asked. “I need to know in case I have to treat other firebenders some day.”

“Uh... I really don't want to talk about it. It happened in Ba Sing Se.” Zuko said and rubbed his eyes. He slowly pushed himself up and rested his head against the cool stone wall behind him.

“Ba Sing Se... I really want to know you got there in the first place.”

“We were simple refugees, okay?” Zuko said and glared at the waterbender. A shiver ran through his body, leaving him weak. Katara looked at him curiously and checked his pulse.

“I thought that would be hard with that scar. I mean, everyone knows what you look like.” Katara said as she pulled her fingers away and acted like she had burnt them. Well, considering how Zuko was feeling, that might as well have happened – when firebenders got fever, it was _high_.

“With the ponytail, yes, but I had short hair at the time.” Zuko answered. He really didn't want to talk about the subject. Especially not about Lake Laogai and its aftermath. He still had those nightmares occasionally.

“So, anyways. You said something happened to you in Ba Sing Se?” Katara asked, and of course it had to be the thing Zuko wanted to avoid. “Did you get ill like this?”

“Uh... Sort of. It's a long story.” Zuko tried to get Katara's interest die down.

“I have time.” she shrugged.

“Fine.” Zuko mumbled. “I released Appa from his prison under Lake Laogai. Uncle followed me and found out I was sort of hiding my true self, I guess I couldn't do it as myself.” He noticed Katara's puzzled look and added, “I was the Blue Spirit.” _You're not supposed to tell her everything, you idiot!_ “Anyways, after we retur- I mean, Uncle made me abandon that part of me. So, when we went back to our home, I... I guess I broke down. Uncle said it was because my inner turmoil, but I'm not sure about it.” He sighed. “He said I was ill for almost a week. I was unconscious most of the time.”

Katara stared at him, eyes wide. She blinked. “Wow.” she managed to say. “That's...” she started, “That's... You shouldn't have been pushed to go through all that.” she stammered.

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, now genuinely curious about the girl's logic.

“Your whole nation is screwed up.” Katara blurted out. “Especially the Fire Lord.”

“I've come to notice that.” Zuko stated matter-of-fact. He had to restrain himself from touching his scar; Katara didn't have to know how it had happened.

“I mean... Gah.” Katara started and ran her hand through her hair. “Shit.” she swore and sighed. “I'm starting to think this is all my fault. Not- not the whole thing, of course, but it's my fault you turned your back on us in Ba Sing Se.”

“What? I made the decision, not you. I'm not trying to convince you or anything, but... Imagine yourself to the same situation: you hadn't seen your father in years and now you were offered a chance to see him again.”

Katara gulped. “I already turned that offer down once.”

Zuko stared at her in shock. He couldn't believe his ears. Katara couldn't possibly have gone anything like he had. “Okay, bad example.”

“No, no!” Katara shook her head. “I don't know what was going on in your mind, but I was foolish enough to rush to the palace and inform the Kyoshi Warriors that I had seen you in that teashop. But then they weren't the real warriors, but your sister and her friends.”

“I wouldn't call them Azula's friends... merely allies.” Zuko said. “But in the end, I could have chosen otherwise. And... had I known what it was like in the palace, I would've jo-.” Mid-sentence, he gasped for air and started coughing. _Not this again..._ he thought, thinking the illness was the one he had experienced in Ba Sing Se.

Katara handed him a cup of water and rubbed his back. “I think you should rest now. You look pretty sick.” Zuko nodded and curled up in the bed.

“Hey...” he whispered, not being able to talk any louder. “Could... could I get a blanket, I feel so cold.” He had already closed his eyes, but he heard Katara open his bag and take the blanket. She gently wrapped it around Zuko, who smiled gratefully and drifted off to sleep.

 

 _Unbelievable_ , Sokka thought. _I can't believe Katara made me do this._ He glanced at the unconscious Fire Prince sleeping on the other side if the room. _I can't believe she made me agree on this._

Yet here he was, watching over Zuko like a mother after a sick child. Okay, Zuko was ill, and still a child – albeit older than Sokka – but it wasn't fair. Sokka was the only one in the group who could hunt, so putting him as the caretaker was more than slightly disgracing.

Sokka was seriously considering the option of leaving his place to do something else, when the pale teen – who was even paler than usually – stirred in his slumber. Sokka reached out to dampen the cloth on Zuko's forehead, but halted when his scarred eye blinked open. It closed soon enough to tell he was still asleep, but the whimpering told he was seeing a nightmare.

To Sokka's ears, it sounded more a cat-rabbit's mewl than anything even vaguely human, but exactly that made his stomach lurch. Katara used to make similar voices when she was having nightmares and needed comforting. Sokka couldn't help his big brother instincts, so he leaned forward to shake Zuko awake from his nightmare.

His skin was blazing hot to touch and Sokka had to resist from pulling away. Luckily for him, it didn't take long to wake up the delirious teen. Zuko's eyes opened for a moment and he started coughing heart-wrenchingly. He turned his head towards Sokka. “You?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Katara's orders.” Sokka shrugged. “You had a nightmare. Mind talking about it?” he intrigued.

Zuko frowned and curled up to his side, facing Sokka. “Nothing special.” he muttered.

“Hey, I can tell when a dream is real scary.” Sokka said. “And you sounded like someone was trying to kill you.”

Amber eyes glared back at him. “I said it's nothing out of the ordinary.”

Sokka cocked his eyebrow. “You mean you have these often?”

Zuko closed his eyes and shrugged. “You could say that.” A chill ran visible through his body and he started coughing again. That seemed to drain all energy from him as he winced, pulled his hands to his chest and whimpered, “Hurts”, tears almost escaping his eyes.

 _And this had to happen on my watch..._ Sokka thought and reached towards Zuko. “Are you injured? I can ask Katara to take a look at it if you want.”

Zuko frantically shook his head and clutched his chest.

“I take that no as an answer to my latter question.” Sokka said and crossed his arms. “Even I can tell you're hurt and in great pains. At least let _me_ look at your injuries.”

Zuko glared daggers at Sokka but let him help him sit up anyways, though not without groaning in pain. Sokka sat down beside him and wrapped his arms around Zuko's lean body to pull off his shirts, feeling his muscles tense when touched.

“Wha..?” Zuko mumbled, half-dazed, trying to push Sokka's hands away. “I'm fine, okay? Just need a bit sleep...”

“Zuko, I don't need to be Toph to know you're lying. Now _calm down_ and let me do this.” Sokka said, pulling down Zuko's gold-trimmed over-shirt. Bringing his hands up to untie the silky shirt underneath, Sokka's hands brushed Zuko's ribs, making the older teen hiss in pain. “That hurt?” Sokka cautiously asked. He didn't want to get fried in care the firebender got angry.

“... A little.” came the shaky answer.

“Do you still think you won't need healing?” Sokka asked, genuinely worried.

“Uh-huh.” Zuko's answer was too absent-minded, and Sokka regretted pulling him up. He wouldn't back off now, though, and tried to be very careful when removing the prince's shirt. He tried not touch the sore spot, but a couple of times his fingers wandered a bit too close and Zuko winced. Sokka always withdrew his hands immediately, but Zuko seemed to be in too much pain to react.

The injury underneath was shocking. Sokka himself made a face at the sight of the ugly purple bruise on the left side of Zuko's chest. “That's gotta hurt a lot.” he managed to say, even though he knew Zuko would call him out for stating the obvious. He wasn't even closely prepared for Zuko's pain-clouded answer.

“What?” he simply asked and tried to pull his blanket around himself.

“You seriously didn't notice you had a giant freaking bruise on your chest? And by the looks of it, you might have broken some ribs.” Sokka said and traced the bruise with his fingers. Zuko shivered under his touch and his amber eyes – now clouded with fever – blinked rapidly, his breathing labored.

Sokka pulled his hand away and glanced out of the window, catching his sister training with Aang in the courtyard. He leaned out of the window and shouted to her. She jumped at the call and lost the control of the water she was bending, making it fall right on her head.

 

“Katara!” came the anguished yell of her brother from their living quarters. _Definitely Sokka_ , she thought as her water whip slipped from her grip and wet all her clothes. _I hope he's not in trouble._ She bent the water swiftly from her clothes, called a break for Aang and grabbed her waterskin, if only out of habit. She stormed her way to Zuko's room where Sokka still should be.

She had thought the firebender might have attacked her brother, but the walls were unscorched. And besides, Sokka could hold his own against Zuko. The boys were still quite obviously fighting, if the yells were any indication.

“You said you wouldn't!” Zuko shouted before breaking into a coughing fit.

“We need you alive.” Sokka's stern voice replied. “You're not making it any easier.” There was quite an audible _thump_ as something hit the floor and gasped for air. “Stay put until Katara arrives. Hell, I'll keep you down myself if you don't...”

“Let go of me!” Small and pained high-pitched shriek echoed in the hallway and Katara chose her moment to interrupt before anything went awry.

She wasn't prepared to what she saw inside the room. Her brother was _pinning down_ the firebender, holding his hands by his wrists, their legs an intertwined mess and their faces _mere inches_ away from each other. Not to mention, Zuko was shirtless.

Katara's face turned into an awkward shade of red at the sight of the two guys, but she managed to stay calm. “So, what was urgent enough to make me cut my training session with Aang?” she asked, making both boys jump in alarm and squirm away from each other, their faces equally red.

“Zuko's got broken ribs.” Sokka said before Katara could comment on what had been going on. He pulled Zuko up from the floor and shoved him to sit on his bed. Zuko groaned in pain and his right hand flew to an unusually large bruise covering much of the left side of his chest.

 _Just how did I miss_ that _one?!_ Katara thought and mentally slapped herself. She should have checked Zuko through they had found him. She summoned a handful of water from her waterskin and carefully touched the bruise. Zuko let out a small groan on even the lightest touch and Katara had to remind herself not to pull back. “I'm just gonna check this, okay?” she said, pushing away Zuko's trembling hands. He sighed and leaned against the wall, easing Katara's job for which she was grateful, though she had no idea why the fire prince knew to do that, and in all truth, she didn't want to know.

The bent water in her hand started to glow silver-blue and spread across the bruise, making Zuko whimper and gasp. He closed his eyes tightly, obviously in lots of pains. Katara wanted to get this torture out of the way, _she was a healer for Tui's sake, not an executioner!_ She hushed a murmur and gently touched the bruise, prodding the chi underneath, looking for extra tangles or knots.

The firebender's chi was restless, hard to grasp and examine. It was nothing like Aang's chi she had become used to in the past few weeks.

Despite having never felt a firebender's chi before, Katara thought Zuko's seemed... dull. Slow and quiet, not rushing and alive like it should be.

Finally starting her work after getting used to the odd pattern of flow, Katara realized the new bruise wasn't the most distinct disturbance in Zuko's chi: that title went to his burn scar covering the left half of his face.

That, though, wasn't Katara's current concern, and she returned to examine the bruise and the muscles and bones underneath it. There were a couple of small tangles indicating cracks in the bones, but there was nothing in need of immediate healing. But why then was the firebender so sick-looking? Katara frowned and hoped her brother or patient wouldn't notice it.

She examined Zuko's chi closer, especially around his lungs; from what she had learned, it was the major source for bending. She found nothing alerting...

“Sokka, hold him.” she suddenly said as she found a potentially lethal disturbance. Despite the danger, she blinked in amusement at the prince's discomfort and scared expression. It was pretty much worth the trouble, even though Katara wouldn't admit it in such a dire situation.

Sokka stayed unflinched and swiftly grabbed Zuko by his arms and locked him to sit between his legs. Zuko's already wide eyes widened even more in shock and his face grew even redder.

“What are you doing?” he squealed and tried to wriggle away, but Sokka only tightened his grip of the feverish boy. Katara placed her hands on Zuko's shoulders and sternly stared straight to his amber eyes.

“I have to warn you that what I'm going to do will feel impossibly uncomfortable. It'll tickle and hurt in waves, but I need you to stay still or you might risk your life. That's why I asked Sokka to hold you still.” she said, brought her hands back to his chest and concentrated on healing the cracked ribs before starting the dangerous part.

 

Zuko couldn't believe his senses. His every instinct told him to run away, to hide somewhere safe... but he was pinned to place by Sokka's arms around his, and Katara in front of him was not helping. He hid his pained groan as Katara traced the bruise and cracked ribs underneath.

Zuko knew very well he had cracked his ribs in the 'fight' against Toph. And he could think of what the possibly life-threatening injury Katara mentioned was. He hadn't been feeling well lately, especially after the eclipse.

A small moan escaped his lips when Katara pressed her hands against the bruise. Suddenly he felt his chi run more smoothly, his breathing getting easier...

Only to turn to pained gasping a moment later. Right as Katara had warned, a wave of excruciating pain spread from his ribs all across his chest, arms and head. Zuko had to bite his lip to avoid crying out loud as the pain peaked. When it slowly started decreasing, he gasped for air through clenched teeth.

“Is it... over?” he rasped when he finally caught his breath. He didn't dare to open his eyes in fear of crying. He didn't want to cry in front of them, even if it was out of pain.

“Almost.” Katara answered. “Your ribs are fine, but your chi's still a mess. I'll try do something to it.” Zuko barely heard and recognized the words, but he nodded and leaned back against Sokka as Katara placed her hands again on his chest.

Zuko knew what would follow. He simply waited, calming his breathing as his chi mended under Katara's gentle healing. He knew what had been wrong with him since the eclipse, since the encounter with his father. He only hoped Katara would know what she was doing and could heal the damage.

He fully felt the moment Katara realized what was wrong: it hit her like... a lighting bolt. Zuko opened his eyes and stared into Katara's shocked face, trying to signal what she had to do.

Then, the damage began to unravel inside him. He trembled in shock and felt Sokka's arms move from around his arms to hold him by his chest. His fists clenched as Katara pulled the excess energy away from his body. He heard a loud crack and smelled the ozone in the air.

He collapsed limp in Sokka's lap, barely registering what was going on. He realized he was slipping from consciousness as he heard Sokka and Katara's hushed murmurs. They pledged for him to reply, to open his eyes, to respond, to do anything. He felt the smooth coldness of Katara's healing spread once again across his chest, this time reaching deeper than before, and a sharp bang of pain hit him just before he slipped into peaceful oblivion.

 

Sokka held Zuko in his tight grip as he tried to calm his breath. Katara was now healing something else than the ribs Sokka had noticed, and it didn't feel good. Even Sokka could taste the danger in the air. It was rarely he got that sensation...

Suddenly Zuko's eyes shot open and he stared into Katara's eyes, just before starting to tremble uncontrollably. Sokka let his arms go and pulled Zuko into a tight hug as Katara placed her hands right on top of Zuko's heart. She blinked in horror and almost withdrew her hands, but stopped herself in time and only took her left hand from Zuko's chest, pointing it towards the window like...

Sokka had no time to react. Zuko's body convulsed in his arms and a loud crack almost broke his ears. He smelled ozone in the air and glanced at his shocked sister who had pulled her hands away from Zuko... who was now laying limp and lifeless in his arms.

“Katara!” Sokka exclaimed. “What happened? What was that?”

His sister shook her head and looked at Zuko, gripping his arms. “Wake up! I healed you!” she said, before pulling back in horror. She swore loudly and pushed her hands against Zuko's chest, right on top of his heart. “Don't let us down now, I got that out of you, I know you can pull this through...” she repeated over and over again, healing something deep inside Zuko's body.

Suddenly, the firebender gasped for air, his muscles tensing, but fell limp again. This time, Katara sighed in relief.

“I don't want to do that ever. Again.” she said and finally pulled her hands away from Zuko.

 

Katara tensed as she sensed the disturbance deep inside Zuko. She started prodding it, only to get a shocking response. She saw Zuko's eyes fly open and stare her eye-to-eye, and then start convulsing in Sokka's arms. Sokka let go of his arms and wrapped them around the firebender's chest. Katara promptly placed her hands on Zuko's heart, trying to pull the energy away, trying to save his life...

A realization hit her and she pulled her left palm from Zuko's chest and pointed two fingers towards the window. She used her healing to pull the lightning away from Zuko, through her body and into the air around the temple.

A loud crack almost broke her ears. The bright light and the smell of ozone hit her right after. She looked back at Sokka and Zuko... who was laying lifeless in his arms.

She barely heard her brother ask what she had done. She knew what had happened to Zuko, and there was no time to waste. She wasted no time pressing her hands back to Zuko's chest, right over his heart, looking for his pulse. If she couldn't do this, all this would have been futile. She twisted her fingers in a way she had hoped she'd never had to use again, and felt Zuko's heart respond. _Finally!_ she mentally cheered and eased the flow of chi and blood into their usual ways. It wasn't until she was completely satisfied with her healing that she pulled away.

“I don't want to do that ever. Again.” she said and sighed.

“Katara... what _was_ that?” Sokka asked. He lowered Zuko to the bed and wrapped his blanket around the teen's bare upper body.

“He had been hit by lightning.” Katara said and leaned against the wall, sliding her back against it to sit on the floor. She leaned her head between her knees to ease her dizziness. “Had to get that out of him.”

“You... bent... lightning?” Sokka asked, utterly confused.

“Pretty much. That stopped his heart so then I had to use bloodbending to get it back to work.” Katara continued. “I think he'll be fine, but I suggest Toph keep an eye on him for the next few hours. Just to make sure he doesn't... Collapse like that again.” She hesitated with the last words.

Loud stomping echoing in the hallway interrupted her and Toph and Aang burst in. “What did you do to Sparky?” Toph demanded, her voice shaky. “He's okay now, but he felt dead just minutes ago!”

“And what was that lightning I saw?” Aang added.

“Someone shot Zuko with lightning and Katara took it away, stopping his heart and then she fixed that.” Sokka replied. Katara was grateful he had spoken; it was just too much to talk about the healing right now.

Both the younger kids stared at her in shock. “You can do _that_?” Aang asked.

“Long story.” Katara mumbled. “Look, I need to rest now. Toph, could you watch over Zuko for a few hours? Just to make sure his heart doesn't stop again.”

“Sure thing, Lifesaver.” Toph said, using a whole new nickname for Katara.

 

Zuko wearily opened his eyes and cautiously sat up in his bed. He felt a bit light-headed and dizzy, like he'd been cut out of air for some time. _Wait.... wasn't that what happened?_ Zuko thought and brought his right hand to his chest, touching the bruise Katara had healed. It was still there, but it was much smaller and didn't hurt. Above it, was something like a burn mark. Zuko hissed as he remembered parts of what had happened before he had fallen unconscious.

He shivered as the air grew colder around him. He was alone in the room, which surprised him. He had expected at least someone to keep an eye on him after what Katara had healed. Well, at least he had some time to collect himself in privacy.

He looked around, searching for the shirts Sokka had taken from him. He spotted them in the corner and snatched them before anyone would notice he was up. He wrapped the shirt and tunic, tied them and sat back to his bed, leaning against the stone wall. The afternoon sun had warmed the wall, and Zuko sighed as he thought how long he might have been unconscious.

His thoughts were interrupted as the Avatar's pet lemur flew to the room and landed on Zuko's shoulder. He almost yelped in surprise, but managed to keep calm. “Hi, Momo. Where's your owner?” Zuko asked and reached his hand to scratch the lemur between his ears. His voice was oddly hoarse, barely more than a whisper. Zuko just felt glad he wasn't coughing anymore.

“You know, talking to oneself is no sign of sanity.” came a remark from the door. Zuko jerked at the voice and Momo jumped down from his shoulder and ran to his owner standing in the doorway.

Zuko looked at the oddly amused Aang, who was carrying two plates in his hands. “I wasn't talking to myself.” Zuko complained, his voice still rasping.

Aang smiled. “Momo counts.” He placed the plates on the other bed and sat down. “I didn't think I'd say this, but... it's good to see you awake.” He looked down. “I mean... we've been enemies for so long... And now you're supposed to be my firebending teacher. It just feels... unreal.”

“Same here.” Zuko said. “Until the day before eclipse, I thought you were dead, too.” He shook his head. It was a lie, but better tell him that than risk revealing he had sent an assassin after them.

Aang looked up. “We were having dinner when Toph said you had awoken. They all said I should come talk to you this time.” He took one of the plates and gave it to Zuko. “Katara wasn't sure if you were hungry, but she made you some broth.”

Zuko raised his eyebrow but took the offered food. “Um, thanks... I guess.”

Aang started picking at his food, trying not to look at Zuko. “She also wanted to apologize. For momentarily killing you.”

Zuko stared at the young airbender, not quite in shock. “So that's why I felt so weak. I couldn't remember any of it.” He tasted the broth, surprised how thick it was. He suddenly found himself hungry and quickly ate rest of the broth. He licked his lips and set the bowl aside.

Aang looked at him somewhat alert. “Didn't know you could eat so fast.” he said and almost laughed, but turned then serious. “I should have said this earlier, but Sokka slipped something to that broth. He said it would ease any pains you had and help you sleep.”

Zuko felt a chill ran down his spine. “Yeah. You should have.” he said, feeling sleepiness creep to his body. He shouldn't be sleeping now - it wasn't even dusk yet! “But of course if Sokka told you not to tell me, I can understand.” He rubbed his eyes and fought back a yawn: he wouldn't show the stuff he had eaten affected him already! “How long till dusk, anyway? Firebenders don't sleep if the sun's above horizon.”

“Less than half an hour. Which reminds me... Can we start my firebending lessons tomorrow?” Aang asked.

Zuko was already wrapping his blanket around himself. “I guess. If I'm feeling okay and Katara allows that. She might have something to say since she had to bring me back from the dead today.” he said and curled up in his bed, facing the wall. He felt too tired to talk anymore and hoped Aang would take the hint.

He heard Aang continue eating and mutter something about tight schedules to Momo. The silent clicking of chopsticks soon lulled him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Soo this was/is the first (and so far only) AtLA fic I've finished. It's actually a year or two old already and I've got a draft for the rewrite version, which is going to be a LOT better than this one. But while I'm working on that one, please review this one? I'd like to hear what other people think of my more "recent" writing.
> 
> And the wrong track I mentioned in the beginning note? That track will make more sense in the rewrite. I promise. And rewrite will have chapters.


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